On the run, for something bigger than herself

Danielle Flaim has been running 40 to 50 miles per week to train for Washington D.C.’s Marine Corps Marathon on Oct. 28. But she wasn’t running this one just for herself — she’s running for her nephew, Jimmo.

Seven-year-old Jimmo suffers from Fragile X, an inherited chromosomal abnormality that has caused him intellectual and physical disability. While these levels will never be where they should, “the emotion is there,” Flaim said, adding he gives the best hugs because “he knows that he is loved.” In fact, it’s the awareness of Jimmo’s condition that secured Flaim a spot in the marathon.

By the time she had chosen to race, the Marathon was sold out. Flaim discovered that Jill’s House, a haven for children with intellectual disabilities in D.C. area, had enlisted a number of sign ups to help bring a group together as a fundraiser. Instead of trying to find one on Craigslist, Danielle jokes, she decided to be a part of the Jill’s House team.

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This was Danielle’s third marathon. Her first was the Baltimore Marathon in 2004, followed by the Marine Corps Marathon 2006. The West Chester native and West Chester University graduate has been training since early summer with her boyfriend, James Wenzel, who also ran in the marathon.

Wenzel said that often times he thinks running simultaneously opens the mind and slows down the mouth, but that the two seem to have some of their most meaningful conversations while running.

“Running has definitely brought us closer together as a couple,” Wenzel said.

You might think a dedicated runner like her was born with track shoes on, but she revealed how it was her sister, Buffy, who got her started running in 2004. She “spearheaded my passion,” Danielle said. It gave the two of them time to bond and connect. The two worked together, participating in 5Ks and 10Ks and gradually worked up to a marathon. Buffy’s motivation has encouraged her friends to run as well. Flaim knows the positive effect it has had on her life.

“I want to pay it forward,” she said.

Running has become a part of her, something she can’t see herself without. Yet there’s also something else Flaim cannot see herself without. When Flaim was 12 years old, she was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. She was later found to have gluten, casein, egg and soy intolerance. Running has been a way of “empowering myself to get over Crohn’s,” Flaim said, “because it’s something that I’ll have for the rest of my life and I’m not letting it take control over me.”

The Sriracha-loving, interior design enthusiast would like her next race to be a triathlon. She would enjoy the opportunity to compete in one that includes padding, which is another fitness hobby of hers. Her ultimate goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon, which has a qualifying time of 3:35 for women in her age category.

-- Sarah Moore of Philadelphia is a senior journalism major at Catholic University in Washington D.C.